One of the things we do at Rally (Rally!) is make up a ridiculous and unlikely cover story for why we’re here.
My story for this week of the Great Ducking Out turned out to be that… get this, I have an obsession with monkeys!
Specifically monkeys who wear clothing. And that’s why I’m at the Playground. Because there are several of those here.
Not here to work on a big project, no no no no no! Nothing happening here, monsters!
What do I know about monkeys wearing clothing?
More than you’d think, as it turns out.
Certainly more than I’d thought.
We did some stone skippings after the morning shivanauttery, and one of the stone-questions was this:
What do I already know about why I’m here?
And since why I’m here is to be obsessed with clothed monkeys, the question became …
What do I already know about monkeys who wear clothes?
Things I know about monkeys who wear clothes.
I know that:
Monkeys with clothes are 300% cuter than monkeys not wearing clothes. FACT.- Clothes make the monkey!
- A monkey dressed as a sailor is unmistakably a sailor. A sailor monkey.
- Oh! of course. Wear the clothes of the person who runs Shivanauticon, and that is the next step!
- Costumes are magic.
- A clothed monkey is in a double-costume. And he probably finds that entertaining. I bet he chuckles to himself while adjusting his bolo tie.
- Clothes are a kind of home. Wow. I did not realize that before but of course it is true.
- They are (or can be) a container or a cocoon for the change that they symbolize.
- That’s why CONGRUENCE is so incredibly important.
- Monkeys are always playing.
- Monkeys love Playgrounds. Isn’t it perfect then that I’m at the Playground?
- They are graceful, agile, curious.
- They find alternative ways to get places. YES!
- “Monkey” was already my code word for the favorite place.
- Monkey bars! Like parkour skills. Grace and balance.
- Trapeze! Especially since Shivanauticon is a crazy circus!
- Monkeys do not worry about whether or not people are taking them seriously.
- And what become of the monk the monk the monk the monk….
- Of course! The Animal Fair …. it’s a parallel to the Flairground (the flair-filled fairground where Shivanauticon is going to happen. Yes yes!
I probably know even more things about monkeys who wear clothes.
But that’s where I stopped in order to skip another stone.
Here were the other questions:
What will I need in order to do this?
What needs to change in my kingdom for this to happen?
What’s next?
The monkeys told me what to do, and now we’re cool.
Other sneaky problems that the monkeys solve.
This way we don’t have to talk about our mysterious projects (unless we want to, of course!).
And we can speak in secret agent talk.
(“How’s my clothed-monkey obsession going? I’m learning all sorts of fascinating things! What about you? How’s that rug-researching?”).
Plus when the cover story gets to double as a super sneaky proxy, you can work on that instead of your projects.
And then the monsters are extra quiet, because they aren’t invested in telling me how I’m going to FAIL DISASTROUSLY at caring about clothed monkeys.
It’s pretty great.
One more thing I can tell you about clothed monkeys.
They can dangle from anything.
And this is fun for them.
They especially like it when you say YAY when you see them dangling from something particularly unlikely.
Isn’t that a reassuring thing to know? It was for me.
Play with me! And the giant commenting blanket fort.
So, obviously, this is not really about monkeys.
It’s about my project. It’s my subjective experience of these particular monkeys. Who aren’t real. One is a stuffed toy and the other is a picture on a wall.
If your experience of monkeys happens to be different (“Monkeys should never wear clothing! I feel strongly about this!”), of course you are allowed to have your own monkey-experience. That should be a given.
However, I’m going to ask that we play along with my version here today, in support of my mission and my secret project.
If you would like to make up your own cover story for what you’re doing today (double especially if you’re going to be doing something for American Thanksgiving!), go for it.
Then you can look for clues about it while making (or avoiding) the small-talks.
Let’s play! As always, we make room for everyone to do their own thing, and we don’t give advice. Unless people ask.
Lots of love. The monkeys and I are wishing you an extra-strong force field today.
Follow
Monkeys are also full of energy, that’s something I can learn from them.
Clothed monkeys are also in a good mood, they are like happy or something all the time 🙂
And I could use some monkeys to help me with somethings which need to happen, they could go work on those things while I’m secretly chillaxing (like secret helpful little elves, but monkeys).
May be they’ll let me monkey around with them, may be I get to be a monkey for a while to and enjoy simple pleasures, like a banana!!
Yeap, me like the monkey idea 😀
Monkeys! How fun. I like the idea of unlikely routes to places — like the passages between the trees that you talked about in your book!
I think I need a proxy because my monsters most emphatically do not want me to consciously approach all the stuck weirdness that is hanging out in the air today. No approaching allowed! Okay monsters, I’m not approaching…in fact, I’m kind of napping. I’m a sloth in a tree! Cataloging the moss on my fur. (because I am so nonmoving I’m mossy!) And I am dangling. And smiling and sleepy and content. I am most definitely not scheming. Not me! Just being smiley and focusing on my sleepy self.
Gotta love a monkey! yea monkeys! hey hey we’re the monkees!
back when i was studying evolutionary anthropology and primate ethology i could tell you all kinds of things about monkeys, bet that. but we already knwo the most important things! they’re fun! curious! silly! not afarid to masturbate in front of school children! whee!
i am giving myself and the monkeys eprmission to blnket fort today. to play and be silly and retreat when necessary and Not TAke Ourselves Too Serious, becuase for real, am I turning in today; Thanksgiving for a grade or something?
I am not.
I also love that as I was first reading this, my girls were watching “curious George” an giggling like mad lil monkeys. our mission today: to monkey-ify our lowkey lil T’giving. monkeys away!
Duey highly approves of this post. He would, however, like you to know that he has declared this Monkey Pants Amnesty Day and is categorically refusing to wear anything resembling pants until sunrise.
Today, I find myself thinking about…beachcombing. Not something I’m very likely to actually become, a beachcomber, so my monsters aren’t worried. Just idle fantasy.
Here are some things I believe about beachcombing:
–It’s done in a beautiful place.
–It’s done out in the world, and at the same time, it’s a solitary pursuit. Seems rather meditative, in fact.
–There’s no hurry to beachcombing. Beachcombers meander. They poke around, and see what they can see.
–They hunt for buried treasure. While doing so, they collect things, all kinds of things. You never know what might be of value to someone. Potential is everywhere.
–Beachcombers walk with the sea at their side. The sea brings them gifts. These gifts can then be co-mingled, transformed, shared.
–Beachcombers honor the rhythm of the sea. They understand ebb and flow.
–It’s not hard work. Rather the opposite, really.
Lovely things, proxies. I can almost hear the ocean, can feel my breath flowing in gentle waves.
Sending monkey hugs to you and all the Rallions, and to everyone reading these words!
Oh Yay! Play! This is exactly what I need right now.
My secret mission is something to do with a very very large ball of yarn. It’s actually a secret from me, too.
What I know about this:
– When balls of yarn get that large, it’s funny.
– This ball of yarn is actually made up of smaller balls of yard tied together. The ends could be woven in neatly, but they’re not
– The big ball of yarn has so many different kinds of yarn in it.
– It’s also got a lot of colour and pattern.
– It would knit the world’s largest scarf.
– Even though it’s a giant ball of yarn you would still use normal sized needles to knit with it because the yarn is still normal thickness
– There is another giant ball of yarn, somewhere on the other side of the world, where the yarn is so thick really funnily large needles are needed.
– The ball of yarn is really really cute. I just want to sit down beside it and lean against it.
What will I need in order to do this?
I already have everything I need! I almost always already have everything I need, no matter what my secret mission is. Even when I don’t know what my mission is.
What needs to change in my kingdom for this to happen?
More space, since the ball of yarn is so big.
But not more space.
Re-arranged space. A new perspective on space.
Permission to create that kind of space!
Commitment to being in that space. Fully occupying it.
What’s next?
1. Experimenting with arranging space.
2. Experimenting with fully occupying space.
3. Exploring all the different ways I can sit down and lean against the giant ball of yarn.
I could ask the ball of yarn – do you know more about my mission? But I think once I have done 1 and 2 I will be ready for my next mission.
also: Yay! Rally! Yay!
Monkeys in clothing! My little nephews would love that! In fact, they are a lot like monkeys themselves. I mean that in the nicest possible way. Cute, fun, funny, curious, inventive … they were sock footed when we arrived and borrowed Aunt C’s clogs (miles too big!) so they could run out to greet MrB (whom they call Santa because of his white beard).
Today, all we did was hang out with some of our favorite people and eat good food and tell stories and make each other laugh.
We brought our teenage nephew CJ home with us for the weekend so that he can visit art galleries and do art things with me.
I’m not sure which one is the cover story: that we went down (it’s an hour away) for Thanksgiving but the reality is that we were picking him up, or that we went to pick him up when we were really there for Thanksgiving.
Anyway, it was a good day. We have customs and traditions and a culture around the holidays that help prevent the kind of tension and turmoil that ruin the holidays for so many families. I’m so thankful for that!
What do I know about taking CJ and art? I know that he has a lot of interest in art and an undeveloped talent. The time we took him to an art museum in another city was very meaningful for him. I know that he considers me his favorite aunt because of our shared interest in art.
What will I need in order to do this? In order to “run him around” to the various art venues this weekend, I need to sleep and rest tonight, and to get information about the hours that these places are open.
What in my kingdom needs to change for this to happen? Mainly the lack of information. I need to clear some space for us to work on our art.
What’s next: just that — clearing some space, and then getting information.
This post is making me laugh, in a sort of funny “meta” way. Because usually I am all “YES! What Havi said! Havi is a genius!” and today my first reaction was like “…. What? …. Monkeys??”
hahaha!
Havi, after lurking here since early this year, I was finally compelled to comment because I am obsessed with monkeys (particularly monkeys in clothes) and have been trying to understand what it’s about! And, I think you hit it here (what my obsession *may* be all about): •Monkeys do not worry about whether or not people are taking them seriously.
Thank you, thank you — I will be *studying* this post!
My prison warden is satisfied with my accomplishments while away.
My monsters are still grumbling that I picked such a lame secret mission. The sneaky intellectualizing monsters have come up with many hypotheses for my choice. My play feels palpably serious today, like the fog.
My unrelated PSA: join a Toastmasters club! It’s a fun place to play with words and speak with passion and grow with others. Like the Playground, it’s a place to discover your tools, your style, your courage. (Boring effects: networking, business skills, leadership experience.)